Blog

The Power of Persistence

Written on May 15, 2012

So, over the weekend, my dog got loose while at my Mom’s on Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, this happens fairly often but she’s typically only gone for a few hours until she’s worn herself out. This time, on the other hand, she was gone for two days. TWO DAYS! Persistence brought her back to me.

All day Sunday my Mom and I sat out on the front porch to look for her. When she would dart into the neighbor’s yard, we would jump up and run after her until, eventually, we lost sight of her again. This happened for a few hours and finally, night fell and we gave up until the next day. My parents kept looking for her the next day with no sign of her.

After 36 hours of being gone, I was starting to get quite worried. I leveraged social media outlets to spread the word to those who lived in the area so they would keep an eye out. Today, on the 2nd day, I called the local pound to see if they had picked her up and they had! Words cannot describe how excited I was to get my baby back! By being persistent, I had gotten my dog back.

You may be curious how this relates to the recruiting industry. Persistence is a key part of recruiting. I often follow up with candidates I called or emailed who have not gotten back to me and often am able to work with them.

“As a Recruiter, one of the key factors in being successful is remembering to follow up with candidates periodically so you can build a solid book of business. After all, this business is about relationship building! When I talk to someone that I feel is sharp and would represent Morton Consulting well, I make sure to add them to my “pipeline” list so they are readily available when I have an opportunity open up. In addition to this, I make calendar reminders in Outlook to reach out to these A+ candidates from time to time so they don’t forget who I am and the conversation that we had.

Recently, I was reminded of how valuable it is to keep up with these pipeline candidates. I spoke to a SharePoint Consultant about 2 years ago who was located in Kentucky and was thinking about making the move to Virginia with his family. He had a solid IT background in an area that we specialize in, and possessed excellent communication skills. We continued to stay in touch for quite some time, and even though I wasn’t sure if he would ever make it down to Richmond, I thought he was a valuable contact to stay in touch with. Fast forward 2 years and he is now working for us at a couple of different clients in the Richmond area and we look to continue growing this relationship. Oh, the power of pipelining!”

See, it really does payoff to be persistent! Consider going back through that list of calls you made the past few days or a few weeks ago and see how it helps you succeed in this industry. Persistence never fails.